Help Julie's GB dragon boat adventure to Thailand
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Hello, my name is Julie and I have recently been selected to represent GB in the Senior A dragon boat team. I will be travelling to Pattaya, Thailand in August 2023 to compete in the IDBF World Championships. To represent GB is such an honour and I am extremely proud to have this opportunity. Unfortunately, even as a selected athlete representing GB in this amazing sport, there is no funding available within the UK. Competing on the world stage is so important to me, it is a dream come true. I want to do this well without having to worry if I can afford to proceed and this is why I decided to set up a GoFundMe to ask for your support. I totalled up the cost of this competition and it will be an expensive trip, around £3,000. The flights alone are £1,350 and I have to factor in costs for accommodation, kit, insurance, race entry fees, training fees, food, fuel and other hidden costs that will soon all add up. I would be so grateful for any sponsorship and donations, big or small, as this will help fund me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I first tried dragon boating in 2013 at the Dragons and Flowers dragon boat festival event, helping to raise funds in support of the Pool of Life breast cancer survivor’s dragon boat crew in Liverpool. I continued to do this for several years and I especially loved bringing people together and introducing them to take part, having fun getting fit and raising funds for charity. I enjoyed sharing the specialness of the sport, and its inclusivity; regardless of age, ability, or gender, it is accessible. I also loved the part where we got to go in fancy dress!
In 2018, I eventually joined the Amathus Dragon Boat Club in Liverpool. In 2019, I raced in the ladies’ crew and we won 2 Gold medals for the 250m and 500m races in Nottingham at the BDA National League competition. I also participated in the European racing event in Seville that same year and it was amazing!
Anyone that knows me well will know I am more of a behind-the-scenes person and this fits well within my role at the University of Liverpool supporting students to overcome their mental health difficulties and the life challenges they face. While I love being able to support others in my work, at the end of my working day I have a love for being afloat on the water in a dragon boat or in a 01 canoe, it brings me a real sense of peace and allows me to free my mind.
In January 2022, I faced a challenge of my own following the death of my lovely mum. I found myself unable to process what had happened and I took a lot of time off work and skipped a lot of training in an attempt to grieve, but nothing helped. It has been and continues to be the hardest, the most indescribable painful time of my life. It has deeply changed me forever and I no longer take life for granted as I did before.
I was asked to help at the club and with some encouragement, I was out and about at the club helping with events and I had a phased return back to work. Taking it slowly, one tiny step at a time has helped and I am really lucky because being on the water is like therapy to me. I have found it to be the most efficient way of slowing things down and it allows me to also be able to be with my pain. Through my love for dragon boating, I have been able to begin grieving in my way. This might seem mad and does not make sense to anyone else, but it does to me. My mum always did think I was a bit mad to pursue something that was traditionally considered a masculine sport in China, but I know she would have been so proud of me, she was my biggest fan.
My GB journey began summer of 2022 when a really lovely friend at the club suggested I go along to the GB BNTS sessions… and yes, I loved it! I got straight to work and started to challenge myself and trained with my PT. I attended more of the BNTS sessions facilitated by the Senior A coaching team until trialling in March 2023. I continue to work hard at training and I am paddling 5 times a week and spend 2 to 3 times working out, even lifting weights! Over the next few months, I will be training hard to get ready for the championships and will be travelling up, down and across the country to be able to train with my GB squad. I intend to make you all proud by stepping onto the podium to collect a few medals! Your support will go towards making my GB dragon boat adventure a dream come true and it will be a way for me to take a little bit of you all with me.
As a way of showing my appreciation, I will be regularly updating you all about my journey as a Senior A GB Athlete. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for continuing to support me.
Some updates
In April: The GB Senior A squad have completed 2 training sessions already and there's more to come.
I have been learning about how to incorporate battle ropes into my fitness plan. It was and had been my nemesis. I can say that I now appreciate that there are so many benefits!
I am also loving medicine ball slams, they really help me to focus on building up core strength and improving cardio. Such a simple movement and it utilises most of the major muscle groups - gains!
An amazing start to the British Dragon boat Association racing season. Amathus ladies' crew won 1st place in 200m.
I know that it is not all about winning... it is all about taking part!
The team also won 1st place in the 200m Open crew; 3rd place in the 200m Men's; 1st place in the 500m Open crew; 1st place in the 2K Open.
In May: I will be stepping in the boat with some colleagues to represent the Confucius Institute, University of Liverpool at this year's Northwest Confucius Institute Dragon Boat Race.
Wow. Thanks so much to all of you who have already donated. It means so much to me to have your support. You are all amazing. Thank you! xx
The months of June and July leading up to competitions in August were intense and quite a blur. I was fortunate enough to have some amazing support from the University of Liverpool Sport Development Team and also via the John Hamilton Fund.
The opening ceremony was out of this world and we were all so happy to represent Team GB.
I wanted to share some highlights with you, just in case you wanted to see some footage of the whole event.
There was quite a lot of coverage on social media. Someone else also created this https://youtu.be/5Z2zcMedflY?feature=shared
One of my crew mates made this video of the whole journey - from attending BNTS (British National Training Squad) sessions, some of the assessments we took part in as well as GB sessions. I cannot watch it without getting goose bumps.
You can see me racing in all 3 of these races.
Team GB Senior A crew on the last day of competition...
I am back from Thailand now and I actually had the most amazing time. There were over 30 international countries competing and the racing was intense especially in such heat. Unfortunately, GB did not medal but as a crew we achieved a personal best time and it was still phenomenal to have experienced and compete in the IDBF World Championships!
I feel so luck to have had support from you all - my family, my friends, my colleagues and some strangers who all kindly donated to help support me on my journey to the World competition in Pattaya, Thailand. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
All my love,
Julie xxx
Organizer
Julie Chan
Organizer
England